The Cleveland Orchestra Summers @ Severance August 21 Concert
The cover of Nikolai Sokoloff’s score of Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony Held in TCO’s music library, the score contains annotations from the composer himself.
C
A R I C H H I S T O RY with Sergei Rachmaninoff The composer-pianist visited the city multiple times between 1923 and 1942 to perform his piano works with The Cleveland Orchestra. But the history between the Orchestra and Rachmaninoff ’s Second Symphony (see page 10) extends even further.
The symphony was first performed in Cleveland in 1911 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, just three years after its world premiere in St. Petersburg. Eight years later, Cleveland Orchestra Music Director Nikolai Sokoloff wrote to Rachmaninoff about procuring a revised edition of the symphony to perform. The composer agreed the work could benefit from some shortening, so the two musicians collaborated on a new version to be performed in The Cleveland Orchestra’s second season.
Over the next eight years, Sokoloff and the Orchestra performed the symphony 33 times at home and on tour This musical love affair culminated in a 1928 commercial recording of the symphony the work’s first. This was no small feat considering the current technology. In his unpublished memoirs, Sokoloff recalls:
I had seen Rachmaninoff the summer before and, when I told him we were going to record his Second Symphony, he immediately said that he would like to make some cuts in it, about which he had been thinking seriously for some time, as the symphony was far too long Even with the cuts, it took us four hours of almost e very morning of a week in Ne w York to record it!
The finished product filled six 78-rpm discs and sold for $7 almost $130 today! And Sokoloff ’s annotated score of Rachmaninoff ’s symphony (above) still lives in The Cleveland Orchestra’s music library, full of cuts and markings in brightly colored pencil, translating the composer’s wishes.
Closing out our 2025 Summers at Severance series, conductor Dima Slobodeniouk (see page 17) brings this storied symphony back to Severance Music Center, paired with Frédéric Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto (see page 6) a brilliant work by another virtuoso pianist-composer, interpreted tonight by the acclaimed soloist Nobuyuki Tsujii (see page 19) Ellen Sauer Tanyeri
Ellen Sauer Tanyeri is The Cleveland Orchestra’s archives & editorial assistant and is working towards a PhD in musicology at Case Western Reserve University.
C H O P I N & R A C H M A N I N O F F
Thursday, August 21, 2025, at 7 PM
Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor
Frédéric Chopin (1810 –1849)
Piano Concerto No. 2 30 minutes in F minor, Op. 21
I. Maestoso
II. Larghetto
III. Allegro vivace
Nobuyuki Tsujii, piano
I N T E R M I S S I O N
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 –1943)
minutes
Symphony No. 2 60 minutes in E minor, Op. 27
I. Largo Allegro moderato
II. Allegro molto
III. Adagio
IV. Allegro vivace
Thank you for silencing your electronic devices.
The Cleveland Orchestra would like to thank Presenting Sponsor Thompson Hine LLP for generously supporting Summers @ Severance.
Nobuyuki Tsujii’s performance is generously sponsored by Dr. Hiroyuki and Mrs. Mikiko Fujita.
Tonight’s concert is dedicated in loving memory of Jean and Walter Kalberer in recognition of their generous support of music.
Piano Concerto No . 2 in F minor, Op . 21
by Frédéric Chopin
B O R N : March 1 , 1810, in Zelazowa Wola , Poland
D I E D : October 17, 1849, in Paris
▶ C O M P O S E D : 1829 – 30
▶ W O R L D P R E M I E R E : March 4, 1830, with the composer as soloist and Karol Kurpiński conducting
▶ C L E V E L A N D O R C H E S T R A P R E M I E R E : December 1, 1932 , featuring soloist Josef Hofmann and led by Music Director Nikolai Sokoloff
▶ O R C H E S T R AT I O N : 2 flutes , 2 oboes , 2 clarinets , 2 bassoons , 2 horns , 2 trumpets , bass trombone, timpani, and strings , plus solo piano
▶ D U R AT I O N : about 30 minutes
F R É D É R I C C H O P I N ’ S two piano concertos are both early works, composed before he left Warsaw for a journey that would bring him to his permanent home, Paris. He was just 20, with considerable ambitions as a composer and virtuoso pianist, and his French father, Nicolas Chopin, was far from the obstructive parent that great artists often battle against. He made it clear to his son that in order to succeed at the highest level in music, he needed to experience the wider world and, particularly, the great musical capitals of Europe: Vienna, Berlin, and Paris.
The concerts Chopin gave in Warsaw before leaving his hometown in 1830 put his immense talents on display and labeled him a genius, from at least some members of the press
Concerts in that era were entirely different from the events we know today. They lasted three hours or more, and often included several soloists, among them always at least one singer, preferably a famous soprano. Solo pieces alternated with orchestral music. There was generally a chorus on hand, and the music tended to get lighter as the evening proceeded.
From the late 18th to early 19th century, the piano had enjoyed the fruits of rapid industrial advance. It was stronger, heavier, larger, and louder. Not yet curved or black like modern pianos, this angular instrument was often stained brown and had a variety of pedals for
Only two known photographs exist of Frédéric Chopin This particular one was taken by Louis-Auguste Bisson in 1849, a few months before Chopin’s death
special effects. Its sound could fill ever larger halls By the time Chopin appeared on the scene, it also had an upper register that added more than an octave to the range of the instruments that Mozart had played. This high register had a tinkly brilliance that pianists and composers rushed to exploit. Finger virtuosity was the goal of every aspiring pianist, and the études and variations that poured from the presses offered even modest pianists the chance to impress their listeners with cascades of notes that sounded more difficult than they were.
At the highest level, pianist-composers had to develop a truly formidable finger technique, the most celebrated exponent of which was the young Franz Liszt Chopin was among the young virtuosos of this order, although he did not meet Liszt until reaching Paris. His models were Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Friedrich Kalkbrenner, and Ignaz Moscheles well-established touring pianists and successful composers, all of whom wrote concertos that combine great virtuosity with solid craftsmanship. Chopin probably did not know Mozart’s or Beethoven’s concertos in his teenage years, so it is not surprising that he modeled his first attempt at a full-scale concerto on Hummel Having studied with Mozart as a boy, Hummel went on to a brilliant career. He visited Warsaw in 1828 and met the young Chopin, who regarded his virtuosic concertos with enormous admiration. Chopin’s first attempt is this Concerto in F minor, known as his Concerto No. 2;
however, it was written before the Concerto in E minor now known as “No. 1.” The numbering refers to the order in which the two works were published, regardless of the sequence in which they flowed from the composer’s pen.
Chopin performed the F-minor Concerto in Warsaw in March 1830 to rapturous acclaim from the press. He was greeted as a national hero:
How beautifully he plays! What fluenc y! What e venness! There could be no more perfect concord between the two hands. He plays with such certainty, so cleanly that his concerto might be compared to the life of a just man: no ambiguity, nothing false. He plays with the good manners of a well-bred person who may indeed be aware of his own significance but has no pretensions, knowing that, if he chose, anything might be permitted to him. His music is full of expressive feeling and song, and puts the listener into a state of subtle rapture, bringing back to his memory all the happy moments he has known.
Chopin’s playing, in fact, was always noted for its fluency and lack of showy display, yet his music, especially his concertos, calls for great precision and brilliant polish The work was repeated shortly thereafter to even greater applause.
Even so, Chopin’s concertos have sometimes been criticized for the minor role allotted to the orchestra, and French composer Hector Berlioz disapproved of their unadventurous instrumentation. Yet their melodic richness, warmly
colored harmonies, and highly crafted piano writing all ensure their place in the repertoire.
At the time, Chopin already had a second concerto (No. 1) in the works. The composer performed it in October 1830 to another enthusiastic audience. “The bravos were deafening,” Chopin reported, although there was little response in the press A few weeks later, he left Warsaw, never to return.
Chopin himself played the Second Concerto only twice more, during his early years in Paris He would not have regarded it as approaching the peak of his creative genius, but as a vehicle for a young pianist-composer, it served him well.
The first movement of Chopin’s Second Concerto is based on themes that start off simply but are quickly subjected to fanciful elaborations of every kind. The second movement is a marvel of elegance and filigree, the orchestra giving patient support throughout. And the finale has the character of a lively Polish tune, part mazurka, part krakowiak folk dance, in 3/4 time Toward the end, the horn sounds the signal for a turn to the major key and a coda driven by cascades of notes ranging from one end of the piano to the other.
Hugh Macdonald
Hugh Macdonald is Avis H. Blewett Professor Emeritus of Music at Washington University in St . Louis . He has written books on Beethoven, Berlioz , Bizet , and Scriabin, as well as Music in 1853: The Biography of a Year
Pearl Jewelry Designed & Cared
Symphony No . 2 in E minor, Op . 27
by Sergei Rachmaninoff
B O R N : April 1 , 1873, in Semyonovo, Russia
D I E D : March 28, 1943, in Beverly Hills , California
▶ C O M P O S E D : 1906 – 07
▶ W O R L D P R E M I E R E : January 26, 1908 , with the composer conducting
▶ C L E V E L A N D O R C H E S T R A P R E M I E R E : March 13, 1920, led by Music Director Nikolai Sokoloff
▶ O R C H E S T R AT I O N : 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 3 oboes (3rd doubling English horn), 2 clarinets , bass clarinet , 2 bassoons , 4 horns , 3 trumpets , 3 trombones , tuba , timpani, percussion (side drum , bass drum , cymbals , glockenspiel), and strings
▶ D U R AT I O N : about 60 minutes
J O H A N N E S B R A H M S I S W E L L K N O W N for a long reluctance to compose his first symphony, waiting until he was old enough and mature enough (he was 43 by the time of its premiere) to offer something worthy of himself and of the heritage of Beethoven’s symphonies Beethoven himself had not written a symphony until he was 30.
For Sergei Rachmaninoff, however, the difficulty was writing not his first symphony but his second. The First Symphony was composed in 1895– 96 and first performed in St. Petersburg the next year, in 1897, just before the composer’s 24th birthday. The concert was one of the most infamous rejections in music history, when a poor performance, incompetently conducted by composer and teacher Alexander Glazunov,
was savaged by conservative critics and rejected by the public.
The effect on Rachmaninoff was devastating. For three years, he lost confidence in his ability to compose. His recovery was made possible in part by hypnosis, and his return to creative work was signaled by the immediate success of his Second Piano Concerto. Yet he still hesitated to attempt a second symphony.
In 1902, the composer’s cousin, Alexander Ziloti, also a virtuoso pianist, had taken over the direction of the Moscow Philharmonic Society’s concerts and boldly (if prematurely) announced the performance of a new Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff, photographed here in 1900, was a towering figure at 6 feet , 6 inches tall, and boasted a massive hand span that could stretch across 13 keys on the piano
symphony in both of his first two seasons Although Rachmaninoff made some sketches that year, he was not ready to embark on the serious effort the symphony needed until 1906.
At the beginning of 1907, Rachmaninoff wrote:
While I was planning to get the symphony in a finished state, it became terribly boring and repulsive to me. So I put it aside and started something else. The world would not have known about my work if Ziloti had not wormed out of me e verything I have or will have. I told him that I will have a symphony, but not before the autumn, because I will begin the orchestration only in the summer.
The new work was ultimately finished in Dresden later that year, and the first
Rachmaninoff is seen here with his wife (Natalia Satina, second from left), then-Music Director Nikolai Sokoloff (left), Ruth Ottoway Sokoloff (right), and The Cleveland Orchestra’s founder, Adella Prentiss Hughes (second from right). To learn more about the Orchestra’s history with Rachmaninoff ’s Second Symphony, scan the QR code to read a story from the TCO Archives .
performance took place in St. Petersburg in January 1908, with Rachmaninoff conducting. This time, the reception was enthusiastic, and the Second Symphony was played all over the world within a few short years.
The first movement has a slow introduction which feels its way towards a climax, perhaps expending more emotional heat than necessary in advance of the main movement, and then subsides There follows the
movement’s main body, marked Allegro, diffident at first but soon blossoming with hidden warmth, gathering speed and intensity towards a second subject laden with rapturous lyricism. With a nod toward Classical traditions, the opening exposition is repeated.
The movement’s long development section displays Rachmaninoff ’s astonishing skill in handling keys and thematic fragments, truly a working-out of the given material as symphonic practice was deemed to require it. This includes a strong fanfare-like climax After the formal return of the main material, a coda increases the tempo and drives home to the finish.
The second movement is not a conventional scherzo, yet it is swift and light, with touches of color from the glockenspiel in playful dialogue with the violins. The middle section is slower, with a broad, mostly stepwise melody on the violins. The clarinet introduces the theme with a figure that came back to Rachmaninoff when composing his Symphonic D ances toward the end of his life. Most unexpectedly, this movement breaks into a wild fugue led off by the second violins, and within the fugue,
there appears an extraordinarily delicate passage of what can only be described as ballet music, involving the brass playing pianissimo, one of Rachmaninoff ’s many strokes of genius in this symphony.
The slow movement is one of Rachmaninoff ’s most glorious creations, rich and melodious in every detail, quite long but never seeming to be too long. The clarinet shows how Rachmaninoff is a master of long melodies that keep on growing before finally winding down. Snatches of the first movement are incorporated into the texture, and a grand climax is reached using Tchaikovsky’s formula of pushing the top line ever higher and the bass line ever lower.
The finale is also long, but moves with feverish energy, relaxing only when the grand tune, which we have come to expect in the finales of Russian symphonies, makes its splendid appearance against throbbing triplets. This is a melody that owes little if anything to Russian Orthodox chant which Rachmaninoff was greatly attached to during his life but rises and falls with great strides and firmly seals this remarkable triumph of symphonic literature.
Hugh Macdonald
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Dima Slobodeniouk
P R A I S E D F O R H I S E X H I L A R AT I N G
A P P RO A C H and energetic leadership by musicians and audiences alike, Dima Slobodeniouk has become one of the most sought-after conductors of his generation.
Slobodeniouk works with the world’s foremost orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, and Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam. Soloists with whom he has collaborated include Martha Argerich, Emanuel Ax, Isabelle Faust, Barbara Hannigan, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Beatrice Rana, and Yuja Wang. In the 2024 – 25 season, Slobodeniouk debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He opened the season with a series of concerts at the Aspen Music Festival and School and the Tanglewood Music Festival before embarking on a tour with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Augustin Hadelich. He also led the Orchestra de Paris, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and performances of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov at the Savonlinna Opera Festival.
Known for his musical expertise and interpretive depth, Slobodeniouk is also an acclaimed recording artist Recent notable recordings include Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Cello Concerto with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Nicolas Altstaedt (Alpha), for which
he received an ICMA Award. His latest release on the BIS label features Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements and Symphony in C with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia Other releases on this label include works of Kalevi Aho with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, winner of the 2018 BBC Music Magazine Award.
Slobodeniouk studied with violinist Olga Parkhomenko at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy, where he graduated in 2001. It was there that he also took up his conducting studies with Leif Segerstam, Jorma Panula, and Atso Almila.
Slobodeniouk was music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia from 2013 to 2022, principal conductor of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra from 2016 to 2021, and artistic director of the Sibelius Festival. While at the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, he started a conducting initiative that gives aspiring conductors time with a professional orchestra and the opportunity to work with him on selected repertoire.
Nobuyuki Tsujii piano
J A PA N E S E P I A N I S T Nobuyuki Tsujii (Nobu), who has been blind from birth, won the joint Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009 and has gone on to earn an international reputation for the passion and excitement he brings to his live performances.
Nobu’s past season opened with an extensive concert tour of Japan with Santtu-Matias Rouvali and the Philharmonia Orchestra, followed by recitals in Japan and South Korea. He returned to the United States in the spring for recitals at Carnegie Hall, La Jolla Music Society, and ANA Honolulu Music Week, as well as appearing as a soloist with the Seattle Symphony.
Previous seasons have included concerts with leading orchestras worldwide, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Münchner Philharmoniker, Filarmonica della Scala, and Sinfonieorchester Basel. He maintains a close relationship with Domingo Hindoyan and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, with whom he performed a sold-out concert at the BBC Proms in 2023. Nobu’s appearances as a recitalist have included performances at prestigious venues such as the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Wigmore Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, and Amsterdam Concertgebouw.
Nobu’s debut Deutsche Grammophon
album, released digitally in November 2024, features a Beethoven program that pairs the “Hammerklavier” Sonata with Liszt’s transcription of An die ferne Geliebte. His previous recordings with Avex Classics International include Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto with Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Grieg’s Piano Concerto and Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Nobu has also recorded several recital programs of Chopin, Mozart, Debussy, and Liszt.
A live DVD recording of Nobu’s 2011 Carnegie Hall recital was named DVD of the Month by Gramophone, as was his latest DVD release, Touching the Sound: The Improbable Journe y of Nobuyuki Tsujii, a documentary film by Peter Rosen Nobuyuki Tsujii’s international tours are supported by All Nippon Airways (ANA), and he gratefully acknowledges their assistance
The Cleveland Orchestra rehearses under the baton of guest conductor Bernard Labadie
N O W F I R M LY I N I T S S E C O N D C E N T U RY ,
The Cleveland Orchestra, under the leadership of Franz Welser-Möst since 2002, is one of the most sought-after performing ensembles in the world. Year after year, the ensemble exemplifies extraordinary artistic excellence, creative programming, and community engagement. In recent years, The Ne w York Times has called Cleveland “the best in America” for its virtuosity, elegance of sound, variety of color, and chamber-like musical cohesion.
Founded by Adella Prentiss Hughes, the Orchestra performed its inaugural concert in December 1918. By the middle of the century, decades of growth and sustained support had turned the ensemble into one of the most admired around the world.
The past decade has seen an increasing number of young people attending concerts, bringing fresh attention to The Cleveland Orchestra’s legendary sound and committed programming. More recently, the Orchestra launched several bold digital projects, including the streaming platform Adella.live and its own recording label. Together, they have captured the Orchestra’s unique artistry and the musical achievements of the Welser-Möst and Cleveland Orchestra partnership.
The 2025 – 26 season marks Franz Welser-Möst’s 24th year as Music Director, a period in which The Cleveland
Orchestra has earned unprecedented acclaim around the world, including a series of residencies at the Musikverein in Vienna, the first of its kind by an American orchestra, and a number of celebrated opera presentations.
Since 1918, seven music directors Nikolai Sokoloff, Artur Rodziński, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell, Lorin Maazel, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Franz Welser-Möst have guided and shaped the ensemble’s growth and sound. Through concerts at home and on tour, broadcasts, and a catalog of acclaimed recordings, The Cleveland Orchestra is heard today by a growing group of fans around the world.
Franz Welser -Möst, Music Director
K E LV I N S M I T H FA M I LY C H A I R
F I R S T V I O L I N S
Joel Link
C O N C E RT M A S T E R Blossom-Lee Chair
Liyuan Xie
F I R S T A S S O C I AT E
C O N C E RT M A S T E R
Virginia M. Lindseth, PhD, Chair
Jung-Min Amy Lee
A S S O C I AT E
C O N C E RT M A S T E R
Gretchen D. and Ward Smith Chair
Stephen Tavani
A S S I S TA N T
C O N C E RT M A S T E R
Dr. Ronald H. Krasney Chair
Wei-Fang Gu
Drs . Paul M. and Renate H. Duchesneau Chair
Kim Gomez
Elizabeth and Leslie Kondorossy Chair
Chul-In Park
Harriet T. and David L . Simon Chair
Miho Hashizume
Theodore Rautenberg Chair
Jeanne Preucil Rose
Larry J B and Barbara S
Robinson Chair
Alicia Koelz
Oswald and Phyllis Lerner
Gilroy Chair
Yu Yuan
Patty and John Collinson Chair
Isabel Trautwein
Trevor and Jennie Jones Chair
Katherine Bormann
Analise Handke
Gladys B Goetz Chair
Zhan Shu
Youngji Kim
Paul and Lucille Jones Chair
Genevieve Smelser
S E C O N D V I O
L I N S
Stephen Rose*
Alfred M and Clara T Rankin Chair
Eli Matthews1
Patricia M. Kozerefski and Richard J Bogomolny Chair
Jason Yu2
James and Donna Reid Chair
Sonja Braaten Molloy
Carolyn Gadiel Warner
Elayna Duitman
Ioana Missits
Jeffrey Zehngut^
Sae Shiragami
Kathleen Collins
Beth Woodside
Emma Shook
Dr Jeanette Grasselli Brown and Dr Glenn R Brown Chair
Yun-Ting Lee
Deborah L . Neale Chair
Jiah Chung Chapdelaine
Gawon Kim
V I O L A S
Wesley Collins*
Chaillé H and Richard B
Tullis Chair
Stanley Konopka2
Mark Jackobs
Jean Wall Bennett Chair
Lisa Boyko
Richard and Nancy Sneed Chair
Richard Waugh
Lembi Veskimets
The Morgan Sisters Chair
Eliesha Nelson^
Anthony and Diane
Wynshaw-Boris Chair
Joanna Patterson Zakany
William Bender
Thomas Lauria and Christopher Lauria Chair
Gareth Zehngut^
This roster lists full-time members of The Cleveland Orchestra . The number and seating of musicians on stage varies depending on the piece being performed Seating within the string sections rotates on a periodic basis
C E L L O S
Mark Kosower*
Louis D Beaumont Chair
Richard Weiss1
The GAR Foundation Chair
Charles Bernard2
Helen Weil Ross Chair
Bryan Dumm
Muriel and Noah Butkin Chair
Tanya Ell
Thomas J and Judith Fay
Gruber Chair
Ralph Curry
Brian Thornton
William P. Blair III Chair
David Alan Harrell
Martha Baldwin
Dane Johansen
Marguerite and James Rigby Chair
Paul Kushious
B A S S E S
Maximilian Dimoff*
Clarence T. Reinberger Chair
Charles Paul1
Mary E . and F. Joseph
Callahan Chair
Derek Zadinsky2
Mark Atherton
Thomas Sperl
Henry Peyrebrune
Charles Barr Memorial Chair
Charles Carleton
Scott Dixon
Brandon Mason
H A R P
Trina Struble*
Alice Chalifoux Chair
F LU T E S
Joshua Smith*
Elizabeth M. and William C. Treuhaft Chair
Saeran St. Christopher
Jessica Sindell2^
Austin B and Ellen W Chinn Chair
Mary Kay Fink
P I C C O L O
Mary Kay Fink
Anne M and M Roger Clapp Chair
O B O E S
Frank Rosenwein*
Edith S Taplin Chair
Corbin Stair
Sharon and Yoash Wiener Chair
Jeffrey Rathbun2
Everett D. and Eugenia S .
McCurdy Chair
Robert Walters
E N G L I S H H O R N
Robert Walters
Samuel C and Bernette K
Jaffe Chair
C L A R I N E T S
Afendi Yusuf*
Robert Marcellus Chair
Robert Woolfrey
Victoire G and Alfred M
Rankin, Jr Chair
Daniel McKelway2
Robert R and Vilma L Kohn
Chair
Amy Zoloto
E-F L AT C L A R I N E T
Daniel McKelway
Stanley L and Eloise M
Morgan Chair
B A S S C L A R I N E T
Amy Zoloto
Myrna and James Spira Chair
B A S S O O N S
John Clouser*
Louise Harkness Ingalls Chair
Gareth Thomas
Jonathan Sherwin
C O N T R A B A S S O O N
Jonathan Sherwin
H O R N S
Nathaniel Silberschlag*
George Szell Memorial Chair
Michael Mayhew§ Knight Foundation Chair
Jesse McCormick
Robert B. Benyo Chair
Hans Clebsch
Richard King
Meghan Guegold Hege^
T RU M P E T S
Michael Sachs*
Robert and Eunice Podis
Weiskopf Chair
Jack Sutte
Lyle Steelman2^
James P and Dolores D Storer Chair
Michael Miller
C O R N E T S
Michael Sachs*
Mary Elizabeth and G Robert Klein Chair
Michael Miller
T RO M B O N E S
Brian Wendel*
Gilbert W and Louise I
Humphrey Chair
Richard Stout
Alexander and Marianna C .
McAfee Chair
Shachar Israel2
B A S S T RO M B O N E
Luke Sieve
E U P H O N I U M &
B A S S T RU M P E T
Richard Stout
T U B A
Yasuhito Sugiyama*
Nathalie C Spence and Nathalie S Boswell Chair
T I M PA N I
Zubin Hathi*
Otto G. and Corinne T. Voss Chair
Peter Nichols2
Mr and Mrs Richard K
Smucker Chair
P E RC U S S I O N
Marc Damoulakis*
Margaret Allen Ireland Chair
Thomas Sherwood
Tanner Tanyeri
Peter Nichols
K E Y B OA R D I N S T RU M E N T S
Carolyn Gadiel Warner
Marjory and Marc L
Swartzbaugh Chair
L I B R A R I A N
Michael Ferraguto*
Joe and Marlene Toot Chair
E N D O W E D C H A I R S
C U R R E N T LY
U N O C C U P I E D
Clara G and George P
Bickford Chair
Sandra L Haslinger Chair
Charles M and Janet G
Kimball Chair
Sunshine Chair
Rudolf Serkin Chair
Christoph von Dohnányi
Taichi Fukumura A
Elizabeth Ring and William Gwinn Mather Chair
James Feddeck
Sidney and Doris Dworkin Chair
Lisa Wong
and Chester
Bolton Chair * Principal
Associate Principal
Assistant Principal
Assistant Principal ^ Alum of The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra
C A L E N D A R FA L L
S E P 2 6 – 2 8
R AV E L’ S B O LÉ RO
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
B E R N D R I C H A R D D E U T S C H Urworte
R . S T R A U S S Salome’s Dance from Salome
R AV E L Boléro
O C T 2 & 5
M A H LE R ’ S S O N G
O F T H E E A RT H
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Limmie Pulliam, tenor
Iurii Samoilov, baritone
H O N E G G E R Symphony No 3, “Symphonie liturgique”
M A H L E R Das Lied von der Erde
O C T 9 – 1 1
T R I F O N OV P L AY S
B R A H M S
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Daniil Trifonov, piano
P RO KO F I E V Symphony No 7
B R A H M S Piano Concerto No 2
O C T 2 3 – 2 6
B E E T H OV E N ’ S
O D E TO J OY
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Joélle Harvey, soprano
Taylor Raven, mezzo-soprano
Miles Mykkanen, tenor
Dashon Burton, bass-baritone
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
S I B E L I U S Tapiola
B E E T H O V E N Symphony No. 9, “Choral”
R E C I TA L
O C T 2 9
B E AT R I C E R A N A
I N R E C I TA L
Beatrice Rana, piano
Works by Prokofiev, Debussy, and Tchaikovsky
O C T 3 0 & N OV 1 – 2
O H L S S O N P L AY S
M O Z A RT
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
T Y L E R TAY L O R Permissions
M O Z A RT Piano Concerto No. 23
R . S C H U M A N N Symphony No. 3, “Rhenish”
N OV 1 3 – 1 5
M A H LE R ’ S S I X T H
S Y M P H O N Y
Tugan Sokhiev, conductor
Robert Walters, English horn
G E O F F R E Y G O R D O N Mad Song
M A H L E R Symphony No. 6, “ Tragic”
N OV 2 0 – 2 3
DVO Ř Á K ’ S N E W
W O R LD S Y M P H O N Y
Dalia Stasevska, conductor
R E V U E LTA S La Noche de los Mayas*
D V O Ř Á K Symphony No 9, “From the New World”
N OV 2 8 – 3 0
Y U J A WA N G P L AY S
R AV E L
Petr Popelka, conductor
Yuja Wang, piano
R AV E L Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
L I G E T I Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
M U S S O R G S K Y/ R AV E L Pictures at an Exhibition
D E C 4 – 6
H A N D E L’ S M E S S I A H
Bernard Labadie, conductor
Liv Redpath, soprano
Tim Mead, countertenor
Andrew Haji, tenor
Philippe Sly, bass-baritone
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
H A N D E L Messiah
W I N T E R
J A N 8 – 10
M O Z A RT ’ S J U P I T E R
S Y M P H O N Y
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
M O Z A RT Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter”
S H O S TA KO V I C H Symphony No. 11, “ The Year 1905”
J A N 1 5 , 1 7 & 1 8
V E R D I ’ S R E Q U I E M
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Asmik Grigorian, soprano
Deniz Uzun, mezzo-soprano
Joshua Guerrero, tenor
Tareq Nazmi, bass
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
V E R D I Requiem
F E B 5 – 7
H A D E LI C H P L AY S
M E N D E L S S O H N
Antonello Manacorda, conductor
Augustin Hadelich, violin
M E N D E L S S O H N Violin Concerto
S C H O E N B E R G Chamber Symphony No. 2
S C H U B E RT Symphony No 8, “Unfinished”
F E B 1 2 & 14
H A N N I G A N C O N D U C T S
G E R S H W I N
Barbara Hannigan, conductor
Johanna Wallroth, soprano
C R U M B A Haunted Landscape
R U G G L E S Sun-Treader
B A R B E R Knoxville: Summer of 1915
G E R S H W I N Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture (arr. Bennett)
R E C I TA L
F E B 1 7
M AO F U J I TA I N R E C I TA L
Mao Fujita, piano
Works by Beethoven, Wagner, Berg, Mendelssohn, and Brahms
F E B 1 9 – 2 1
F R E N Z I E D TA N G O
John Adams, conductor
Aaron Diehl, piano
I V E S From Greenland’s Icy Mountains*
T I M O A N D R E S Made of Tunes
J O H N A D A M S Frenzy: a short symphony
P I A Z Z O L L A La Mufa (arr. Adams)*
P I A Z Z O L L A Oblivion (arr. Adams)*
P I A Z Z O L L A Libertango (arr Adams)
F E B 2 6 – 2 8
S T R AU S S ’ S D O N J UA N
Alain Altinoglu, conductor
Alisa Weilerstein, cello
U N S U K C H I N Cello Concerto
R . S T R A U S S Till Eulenspiegel’s
Merry Pranks
R . S T R A U S S Don Juan
M A R 5 , 7 & 8
B R A H M S ’ S T H I R D
S Y M P H O N Y
Jakub Hrůša, conductor
B R A H M S Symphony No. 3
M A RT I N Ů Symphony No. 3
K A P R Á L O VÁ Military Sinfonietta
M A R 1 2 – 1 5
B E E T H OV E N ’ S
FAT E F U L F I F T H
Elim Chan, conductor
Michael Sachs, trumpet
S T R AV I N S K Y Suite from Pulcinella
H AY D N Trumpet Concerto
B E E T H O V E N Symphony No. 5
R E C I TA L
M A R 1 7
T H E K A N N E H - M A S O N S
I N R E C I TA L
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cello
Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano
Works by Mendelssohn, N. Boulanger, R. Schumann, and Clarke
M A R 1 9 – 2 1
C H A N C O N D U C T S
B A RTÓ K
Elim Chan, conductor
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin
D A N I E L K I D A N E Sun Poem*
B A RT Ó K Violin Concerto No. 1
B A RT Ó K Dance Suite*
S C R I A B I N The Poem of Ecstasy
S P R I N G
A P R 2 – 4
D E B U S S Y ’ S L A M E R
Daniele Rustioni, conductor
Paul Jacobs, organ
FA U R É Suite from Pelléas et Mélisande
P O U L E N C Concerto for Organ, Strings , and Timpani
C A S E L L A Italia
D E B U S S Y La mer
A P R 9 – 1 1
S C H U B E RT &
S H O S TA KOV I C H
Santtu-Matias Rouvali, conductor
Sol Gabetta, cello
S H O S TA KO V I C H Cello Concerto No. 2
S C H U B E RT Symphony No. 9, “ The Great”
R E C I TA L
A P R 1 6
A LE X A N D R E
K A N TO RO W I N R E C I TA L
Alexandre Kantorow, piano
Works by J.S. Bach, Medtner, Chopin, Scriabin, and Beethoven
A P R 2 3 , 2 5 & 2 6
B R I T T E N ’ S WA R
R E Q U I E M
Daniel Harding, conductor
Tamara Wilson, soprano
Andrew Staples, tenor
Ludwig Mittelhammer, baritone
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
The Cleveland Orchestra Children’s Chorus
B R I T T E N War Requiem
A P R 3 0 & M AY 2
M E N D E L S S O H N ’ S
R E F O R M AT I O N
S Y M P H O N Y
Jörg Widmann, conductor
J Ö R G W I D M A N N Fanfare for Ten Brass Instruments
J Ö R G W I D M A N N Con brio
J Ö R G W I D M A N N Danse macabre
M E N D E L S S O H N Symphony No. 5, “Reformation”
R E C I TA L
M AY 5
M A RC - A N D R É H A M E LI N & M A R I A J OÃO P I R E S I N R E C I TA L
Marc-André Hamelin, piano
Maria João Pires, piano
Program to be announced
M AY 7 – 9
WAG N E R ’ S
G ÖT T E R DÄ M M E RU N G
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Jörg Widmann, clarinet
P RO KO F I E V Symphony No. 1, “Classical”
O L G A N E U W I RT H Zones of Blue* WA G N E R Excerpts from Götterdämmerung
M AY 1 6 , 2 1 & 24
B E E T H OV E N ’ S F I D
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Malin Byström, soprano (Leonore)
David Butt Philip, tenor (Florestan)
Tomasz Konieczny, bass-baritone (Don Pizarro)
Martin Summer, bass (Rocco)
Dashon Burton, bass-baritone (Don Fernando)
Ashley Emerson, soprano (Marzelline)
Owen McCausland, tenor (Jaquino)
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
B E E T H O V E N Fidelio Opera presentation sung in German with projected supertitles
M AY 2 2
H E RO ’ S S O N G
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Leila Josefowicz, violin
Trina Struble, harp
A D O L P H U S H A I L S T O R K Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed
B A C E W I C Z Symphony No. 4
J Ü R I R E I N V E R E Concerto for Violin, Harp, and Orchestra
D V O Ř Á K Hero’s Song
* Not performed on the Friday matinee concert
Generous support for the 2025 – 26 Recital Series provided by the Art of Beauty Company, Inc.
L AT E S E AT I N G
As a courtesy to the audience members and musicians in the hall, late-arriving patrons are asked to wait quietly until the first convenient break in the program. These seating breaks are at the discretion of the House Manager in consultation with the performing artists .
C E L L P H O N E S , WAT C H E S &
O T H E R D E V I C E S
As a courtesy to others , please silence all electronic devices prior to the start of the concert .
P H O T O G R A P H Y, V I D E O G R A P H Y & R E C O R D I N G
Audio recording, photography, and videography are prohibited during performances at Severance Photographs can only be taken when the performance is not in progress .
For the comfort of those around you, please reduce the volume on hearing aids and other devices that may produce a noise that would detract from the program. For Infrared Assistive-Listening Devices , please see the House Manager or Head Usher for more details .
I N T H E E V E N T
O F A N E M E RG E N C Y
Contact an usher or a member of house staff if you require medical assistance. Emergency exits are clearly marked throughout the building Ushers and house staff will provide instructions in the event of an emergency
Regardless of age, each person must have a ticket and be able to sit quietly in a seat throughout the
N E W ! T H E C L E V E L A N D
O R C H E S T R A A P P
Mobile App of TCO
Explore upcoming concerts , purchase and access your tickets , receive performance updates , and more .
For more information and direct links to download, visit clevelandorchestra .com/tcoapp or scan the code with your smartphone camera to download the app for iPhone or Android.
Available for iOS and Android on Google Play and at the Apple App Store .
performance. Classical Season subscription concerts are not recommended for children under the age of 8. However, there are several age-appropriate series designed specifically for children and youth, including Music Explorers (for 3 to 6 years old) and Family Concerts (for ages 7 and older) F O O D & M E RC H A N D I S E
Beverages and snacks are available at bars throughout Severance Music Center For Cleveland Orchestra apparel, recordings , and gift items , visit the Welcome Desk in Lerner Lobby. T E L L U S A B O U T YO U R E X P E R I E N C E
We are so glad you joined us! Want to share about your time at Severance? Send your feedback to cx@clevelandorchestra .com. Hearing directly from you about what we are doing right and where we can improve will help us create the best experience possible.
The Cleveland Orchestra is grateful to the following organizations for their ongoing generous support of The Cleveland Orchestra: the State of Ohio and Ohio Arts Council and to the residents of Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture
Cleveland Orchestra performances are broadcast as part of regular programming on ideastream/WCLV Classical 90.3 FM, Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 4 PM.
The Cleveland Orchestra is proud of its long-term partnership with Kent State University, made possible in part through generous funding from the State of Ohio
The Cleveland Orchestra is proud to have its home, Severance Music Center, located on the campus of Case Western Reserve University, with whom it has a long history of collaboration and partnership
